title: Scleral contact lenses.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Scleral contact lenses provide unique therapeutic and vision rehabilitative properties that overcome the therapeutic gaps encountered with conventional contact lens therapies.
  
  
  METHODS
  Four case reports are presented in which serious visual impairment was remediated with the application of scleral contact lenses: kerataconus, Terriens marginal degeneration, penetrating keratoplasty from Fuchs' dystrophy, and Stevens-Johnson syndrome.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The availability of new and diverse materials--in particular, the use of highly oxygen-permeable materials for scleral contact lenses--has allowed reevaluation of the clinical role of scleral lenses in the management of irregular corneal surface disorders and ocular surface disease.
authors.affiliation: Boston Foundation for Sight, Massachusetts, USA.
authors.forename: J M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Cotter
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Rosenthal
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D003261:Contact Lenses; D003316:Corneal Diseases / Q000628:therapy*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D019904:Polymethyl Methacrylate; D012590:Sclera
chemical_list: D019904:Polymethyl Methacrylate